Xiaomi’s subsidiary Redmi launched its latest smartphones, the Redmi 7 and Redmi Y3 back in the month of April. Both devices cater to the budget smartphone market in India and have been received well with the audience. Now, fresh leaks have surfaced revealing another budget handset from the company is in the works. The smartphone, alleged to be the Redmi 7A has been leaked on Chinese certification TENAA’s website. The listing exposes the design of the upcoming device.
Redmi 7A
The Redmi 7A, as mentioned above, will be a budget offering from the company. It will succeed the Redmi 6A smartphone which was introduced last year. The listing on TENNA unveils what the upcoming device will look like. From the images, it is comprehended the handset may feature a polycarbonate design. Its front is dominated by a display, the size of which is unknown at the moment. Unlike the latest devices by Redmi, the 7A doesn’t sport a waterdrop on top. It instead has considerable bezels on all sides with a company branding at the chin. The front camera, along with the earpiece and other sensors, presumably the light and proximity sensors will be housed on the top bezel.
The right of the Redmi 7A houses the volume rockers and the power button beneath it. The left side of the smartphone remains empty save for the SIM card tray which may feature a dual SIM slot. Over at the back, the device will have a single rear camera with LED flash. Like current handsets from the company, it will also have the Redmi branding on the bottom but unlike those smartphones, the branding will be vertically placed. Unfortunately, the listing does not mention further details about the 7A like its specifications, launch date and price. But as it has been granted certification in China, it is expected to be announced soon in the country.
Earlier this year, Samsung launched the Galaxy M lineup of smartphones in India which are sold exclusively via online channels. The devices in the lineup are packed with worthy features and carry a lucrative price tag. Accrediting to which, they have been warmly welcomed by the Indian consumers. The current lineup of Galaxy M smartphones includes the Galaxy M10, the Galaxy M20 and the Galaxy M30. Previously, Samsung was reported to add a more premium device in the lineup which will carry the Galaxy M40 moniker. Fresh reports claim that the anticipated device will launch in the month of June in India at an expected price of Rs 25,000.
Galaxy M40 Features
According to the source, the upcoming Galaxy M40 will be kitted with the Snapdragon 675 SoC which is also present on devices like the Galaxy A70 and the Redmi Note 7 Pro. Distinctly, this is the first time that a Galaxy M smartphone will be kitted with a Qualcomm chipset as the previously launched devices feature Exynos SoCs which are manufactured in-house by Samsung.
Noteworthy, the Galaxy M40 is reported to have a punch hole display like the flagship grade Galaxy S10. Similar to the Galaxy M30, the future device will also have a triple rear camera setup. The source did not provide any specific details about the camera sensors but they are predicted to have similar sensors to that of the M30. The camera setup of the former consists of a standard sensor, an ultra wide sensor and a depth sensor.
Staple to the Galaxy M lineup, the Galaxy M40 will also pack a large battery. Leaks from the past claim that it will be powered by a mammoth 5,000 mAh battery which is likely to support fast charging. More details about the device are expected to surface as Samsung officially talks about it in the near future.
If you have been waiting to buy an Honor smartphone for a while, now is your best chance. Amazon is holding the Honor Days sale from the 13th of May to the 17th of May; wherein many devices from the company go on sale at a lucrative price. Furthermore, the company is providing an offer in which any customer buying an Honor smartphone; can also purchase the Honor band at a special price of Rs. 2099 down from Rs. 2399. You can check out the deals below.
Honor View20
The flagship smartphone from the company, Honor View20 is its first device to sport a hole-punch display. It has a 6.4 inch IPS LCD display with a FullHD+ resolution. It runs on the flagship grade Kirin 980 SoC coupled with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM and an internal storage option of 128GB and 256GB. Optics in the smartphone include a 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor and a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor at the back and a 25MP selfie camera. It is powered by a 4000mAh battery.
One of the fastest smartphones in the price range, Honor Play is powered with Huawei’s last year’s flagship Kirin 970, AI processor and GPU Turbo enabling great speed and efficiency. It boasts of dual primary cameras of 16MP + 2MP with AI scene recognition and 16MP AI selfie. Up to 6GB of RAM will ensure phone runs smoothly, even the most memory intensive applications show no signs of lag. 64GB of internal storage will be open for expansion up to 256GB via a microSD card. The phone comes with large 3750 mAh battery to support its 6.3-inch FHD+ screen with IPS LCD display having a resolution of 1080 x 2340 at 409 PPI.
Regular Price:
4 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 21,999
6 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 25,999
Amazon Honor Days Price:
4 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 13,999
6 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 15,999
Honor 8X
Honor’s latest mid-range smartphone in India, the 8X has a 6.5 inch IPS LCD display with 396 ppi pixel density. It runs on the Octa-Core Hisilicon Kirin 710 chipset and is powered by a 3,750 mAh battery. The phone has 20 MP + 2 MP dual rear cameras and a 16 MP selfie camera. The device has 4 GB of RAM paired with 64 GB of ROM which is expandable up to 256 GB via a microSD card.
Regular Price:
4 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 17,999
6 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 19,999
Amazon Honor Days Price:
4 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 12,999
6 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 14,999
Honor 8C
Honor 8C is the company’s budget offering in the Indian market. It has a 6.26-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of FHD+. The device runs on the Snapdragon 632 SoC combined with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. In terms of optics, there is a 13 MP + 2 MP dual rear camera setup and an 8MP sensor for selfies. It is powered by a 4000 mAh battery.
Regular Price: Rs. 12,999
Amazon Honor Days Price: Rs. 9,999
Honor 7C
The Honor 7C is another well-received budget smartphone from the company. It has a 5.99 inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1440 x 720 px. The smartphone runs on the Snapdragon 450 SoC which is coupled with 3/4GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB of internal storage options. In terms of optics, the device has a 13MP + 2MP dual rear camera setup and the front-facing camera is an 8MP sensor. It is powered by a 3000 mAh battery.
Regular Price:
3 GB + 32 GB: Rs. 12,999
4 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 14,999
Amazon Honor Days Price:
3 GB + 32 GB: Rs. 7,999
4 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 9,499
Honor 9N
The Honor 9N is a mid-range device from the brand and was launched last year. It has a 5.84 inch TFT display with a resolution of 2280 x 1080 px. The smartphone runs on the Kirin 659 SoC which is coupled with 4GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB of internal storage options. In terms of optics, the device has a 13MP + 2MP dual rear camera setup and the front-facing camera is a 16MP sensor. It is powered by a 3000 mAh battery.
Regular Price:
4 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 13,999
4 GB + 128 GB: Rs. 19,999
Amazon Honor Days Price:
4 GB + 64 GB: Rs. 9,999
4 GB + 128 GB: Rs. 11,999
Honor 9 Lite
The Honor 9 Lite is the company’s budget smartphone first announced in the year 2017. The device sports a 5.65 inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 2160 x 1080 px. It runs on the Kirin 659 SoC and is coupled with 4GB of RAM and internal storage of 64GB. In terms of optics, the smartphone has a dual 13 MP + 2 MP rear camera setup and has a dual 13MP + 2MP front-facing camera setup for selfies. It is powered by a 3000 mAh battery.
Regular Price: Rs. 16,999
Amazon Honor Days Price: Rs. 9,999
Honor 10 Lite
The Honor 10 Lite is a mid-range smartphone from the company and teh watered-down variant of the flagship Honor 10. It has a 6.21 inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 px and a waterdrop notch on top. The handset runs on the Kirin 710 SoC which is coupled with 3GB/4GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB of internal storage. In terms of optics, the device has a dual camera setup comprised of a 13MP + 2MP sensor and a single 24MP front-facing sensor for selfies. It is powered by a 3400 mAh battery.
Xiaomi’s sub-brand Redmi has been speculated to launch a flagship smartphone for a while; since it separated from its parent company in the month of January this year. It was leaked a while ago that the company is planning on launching two devices instead of one in the month of May. Now fresh reports and leaks have surfaced which reveal the upcoming Redmi smartphones will be called the Redmi K20 and Redmi K20 Pro. Details about the storage and colour variants of the handsets have also been leaked.
Redmi K20, K20 Pro
The upcoming smartphones from Redmi, the K20 and the K20 Pro will be the first flagship offering from the company. The latest leak reveals the devices will be available in three colour options namely, Carbon Fiber Black, Glacier Blue and Flame Red. For memory and storage, the handsets are expected to be available in a plethora of options, which are listed below.
6GB+64GB
6GB+128GB
8GB+128GB (Exclusive to K20 Pro)
8GB+256GB
While the leak doesn’t mention further details about the smartphones; the previous leaks provide the required information. The Redmi K20 series is expected to have a 6.39 inch AMOLED display with an FHD+ resolution. To maximise the screen real estate, a pop-up mechanism to house the front-facing camera has been revealed to be present on the devices. For biometric security and rapidly unlocking the handset, an in display fingerprint scanner with support for face unlock technology will be present on the smartphones.
The Redmi K20 series is expected to run on the 7nm Snapdragon 855 chipset, which comprises of the octa-core Kryo 485 processor and the Adreno 640 GPU. In terms of optics, the smartphones may feature a triple rear camera setup, comprised of a 48MP primary sensor; an 8MP ultra wide angle sensor; and a tertiary 16MP telephoto sensor. For selfies, a 32MP sensor is expected to be present in the pop-up mechanism of the devices. It is also speculated that the handsets will feature the 3.5mm headphone jack and NFC (Near Field Communication) technology. It is expected that Xiaomi will announce the K20 series as the Poco F2 in certain global markets with a price under Rs. 30,000 in India.
American semiconductor giant AMD is expected to launch the new generation of its Ryzen desktop processors; at the Computex show scheduled in a few weeks. The event is one of the largest computer and technology trade shows in the world. While details about the next generation of Ryzen CPU were shrouded in mystery, fresh reports citing information about the processors have been shared on microblogging website Twitter.
AMD Ryzen 3000
The AMD Ryzen 3000 as mentioned above, will represent the next generation of CPUs for desktops. In a tweet, a tipster revealed the processors will have up to 16 cores and will have a base clock speed of 3.3GHz. In terms of overclocking, it can be clocked up to a maximum speed of 4.2Ghz according to the leak but considering the past few iterations; AMD might provide the option of taking it even further. Furthermore, the leak reveals the chipset was tested on a motherboard based on the soon to be released MSI X570 platform controller. MSI has been teasing the support for the new Ryzen processors in its motherboard for a while now.
Another leak, shared by the author of the DRAM Calculator for Ryzen processors on Twitter; showcases another important detail about the Ryzen 3000 CPU. According to him, the upcoming chipset will support a whopping 5000 MHz DDR4 Memory Speeds. All the known details so far about the Ryzen 3000 hint that it will be manufactured using a 7nm process; and will be based on the company’s latest Zen2 architecture. It is a refresh of the Zen+ and Zen architecture that AMD had been using for a while. All the aforementioned changes to the Ryzen lineup insinuates it will be a worthwhile upgrade over its predecessor; and may lead to AMD gaining an advantage over its rival Intel for a while.
Chinese conglomerate Xiaomi is an unconventional company when it comes to their business strategies. It was the first company in India to exclusively sell smartphones online which allowed to offer feature rich smartphones at lower prices in comparison to its competitors. Furthermore, in order to expand its offline growth the company opened thousands of small stores in areas like villages across the country. Another unorthodox initiative taken by the company is the newly installed electronics vending machine which the company is referring to as a Mi Express Kiosk.
Xioami India’s senior executive, Manu Kumar Jain on his Twitter account shared images of the aforementioned vending machine. Called the Mi Express Kiosk, it sells smartphones and smartphone accessories. The machine has been installed in Manyata Tech Park which is located in Bengaluru and the company reports to bring more of these to different locations soon.
In terms of design, the Mi Express Kiosk resembles a traditional vending machine with a see-through glass pane that displays the offered products. To buy a certain product, the user can select options with the help of a large touch screen display which is placed on the top right side of the unit. The mode of payment that the Mi Express Kiosk supports include Cash, Debit or Credit Card or even UPI transfer. The idea of a machine selling electronics does seem innovative but the fact cannot be denied that vending machines never really took off in the country. Primarily due to the following reason:
Users perceive purchasing products from machines a complicated process.
Security is another factor that has limited the adaptation of vending machines. With cases arising from ATM’s being looted, vending machine with expensive electronics would be looted if security is not in sight.
However, Xiaomi has designed a simple UI that is easy to use. Also, the machines are likely to be installed in generally safer locations like malls and airports. To conclude, only time will tell whether these machines take over the country with storm or fail miserably.
American technology giant Apple is known for providing a premium shopping experience to its customers. Part of the experience is grand nature of the renowned Apple Stores. Now, the company is all set to open its largest store in the Indian subcontinent. It has finalised the location at a high-end mall in the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra.
About the Store
As mentioned above, the new Apple Store in Mumbai will be one of the company’s biggest retail market place; and the largest in the Indian subcontinent. Early reports claim it will measure a whopping 4,500 square foot in area. Sources claim the location finalised for the Apple Store is the Palladium shopping mall in Mumbai. It is a known premium destination and may fall perfectly in line to the grandeur the company wants for its flagship retail store in the country. The latest retail market place will fall under the large format Apple Premium Reseller (APR) category. This essentially means that the company has planned to open and run the store in collaboration with a local business partner who will only sell Apple products.
While it has been speculated that the company will open its signature Apple Store in India, many regulations of the Indian government have prevented it from doing that. The rules state if a foreign company wants to open a retail store in the country, it has to source at least 30 percent of the products locally. While the iPhone maker has since met the requirements by manufacturing multiple products in the country; it still has not been granted certification for a retail store. Notably, the aforementioned reason is one of the biggest why electric automaker Tesla has strayed away from the Indian market. The first Apple owned store is expected in the capital New Delhi, in the Connaught Place area by the year 2020.
Oppo’s subsidiary Realme is set to launch it latest mid range smartphone, the Realme X which will be unveiled on the 15th of May in China. Days before the official announcement, the live images and the official teaser of the smartphone have been leaked on Twitter which reveals its design and key features.
Realme X Looks
For starters, the Realme X has a refreshing design with a gradient coloured back that harbours the dual camera setup and company branding. Like the previously launched Realme 3 Pro, the top most camera in the arrangement has a Golden ring around it which provides the smartphone with a distinctive look.
Moving forward to the front, the Realme X accommodates a large screen display with negligible bezels on all sides except for the bottom chin which is comparatively thicker. It also features an in-display fingerprint scanner which is slowly becoming the industry standard for both midrange and premium smartphones. Noteworthy, it also has a motorised pop up style selfie camera which helps the device to offer a high screen to body ratio. The teaser does not exhibit any specifications of the upcoming device but they can be derived from past leaks and previously discovered Geekbench listing.
Realme X Specifications
The Realme X sports a 6.5 inch AMOLED display that has a resolution of 2340 x 1080 px. The smartphone measures 161.2×76×9.4 mm and tips the scale at 191 grams. Under the hood, it is kitted with the Snapdragon 710 SoC which is also present on the Realme 3 Pro. The Realme X is powered by a 3680 mAh battery and it runs on the latest Android 9 Pie which will be skinned with ColorOS. In terms of optics, the Realme X has a dual rear camera setup consisting of 48 MP + 5 MP sensor and a 16 MP selfie camera housed in the popup notch.
Huawei’s sub brand Honor will soon launch its latest smartphone duo. Dubbed as the Honor 20 and the Honor 20 Pro, the handsets will be unveiled on the 21st of May at an event which will be held in London. Days before the official announcement, the company has shared a couple of teasers which reveal camera details of the upcoming devices.
Honor 20 Lineup Camera Details
The teaser images shared by Honor exhibit four piercings on the ear and the lip which suggest the Honor 20 smartphones will have quad rear cameras. Furthermore, the placement of the piercings on the ear indicates the sensors will be arranged in an L-shape.
Furthermore, the second teaser reveals the type of sensors the camera setup of the smartphones will be comprised of. The bubble on the top has a fully focussed image which hints of a standard lens. The image in the second bubble has a wide field of view which hints of an ultra wide sensor. The third bubble with a close up of a leaf corroborates of a macro lens. Finally, the fourth bubble shows two birds which hints the presence of a telephoto zoom lens. Even though the current teaser does not reveal the specifications of the smartphones, they can be derived from past reports.
Honor 20 and Honor 20 Pro Specifications
Honor View 20
According to past leaks, the Honor 20 and the Honor 20 Pro will run on the Kirin 980 SoC which is also present on smartphones like the Huawei P30 and Honor View 20. The chipset consists of an octa core CPU along with the Mali G76 GPU. The devices will reportedly be powered by a 3,650 mAh battery which will support 22.5 watt fast charging. They will be offered in three storage varaints which are as follows:
To conclude, detailed specifications and the price of the upcoming smartphones will be revealed once they are officially announced by the company on the 21st of May.
Google launched its flagship smartphones, the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL last year in the month of October. The devices were praised for their camera and software experience but were also criticised heavily due to random lags and slowdowns. It is speculated that due to the company installing a meagre 4GB of RAM in the handsets, the issue was all but overdue. In a fresh report, users on social media website Reddit have claimed they have fixed the memory problems with the Pixel 3 smartphones; and its predecessors by disabling a feature known as Digital Wellbeing.
Slowdowns on Pixel Smartphones
The thread on Reddit dedicated to the Google Pixel smartphones unanimously arrived at the conclusion; that the Digital Wellbeing feature is the culprit behind the slowdowns and lags that is plaguing Pixel smartphone since last year. While not confirmed by the company, users claim they have turned off the feature and saw a drastic change in the performance of their devices. It is not known what handsets are affected due to the issue, but users have reported improvements in performance up to the original Pixel smartphone when Digital Wellbeing is turned off. The cause of the slowdowns is reported to be the constant usage of the device’s RAM by the feature due to it running in the background at all times.
What Is Digital Wellbeing?
With the introduction of its latest Android 9 Pie Operating System in the year 2018; Google also announced a feature similar to the screen time on the iOS platform. Dubbed Digital Wellbeing, it helped the users track their smartphone and app usage and can restrict it remotely. It has been regarded as a useful feature and made available to all devices in the Pixel and Android One lineup since its launch. Notably, the feature is all set to be updated with new functionalities with Android Q. With the release of the next Android iteration, smartphones supporting Digital Wellbeing will gain access to the Focus Mode. It is claimed to work better at restricting the users at spending more time with smartphones.
But, with the problems of slowdowns and unexpected lags in Pixel 3 smartphones due to the Digital Wellbeing feature; it is considered the best move to turn it off. To turn off the feature from your device, follow the instructions below.
Open settings on your smartphone
Navigate to the Digital Wellbeing option
Touch the three-dot icon at the top right and pick the “Turn off usage access” button
Confirm the decision on the next “Usage access” screen by choosing Digital Wellbeing and toggling the “permit usage access” option to off.
Asus is set to launch its latest flagship grade smartphone, the ZenFone 6 on the 16th of May. Previously, the Geekbench score and the teaser of the upcoming handsetwere spotted online. Days before the official announcement, a video of the alleged smartphone has been shared by a Spanish Youtuber. It exhibits a unique looking smartphone with a slider design. Noteworthy, the slider on the smartphone slides both upwards and downwards which is dissimilar to other slider incorporating smartphones like the Mi Mix 3 and the Honor Magic 2.
ZenFone 6 Official Teaser
Upon close inspection, it was discovered that the smartphone in the video shared by the Youtuber is unlikely to be ZenFone 6. As the official teaser shared by the company declared the smartphone has a bottom mounted 3.5 mm audio jack which the device in the said video misses out on. Apparently, the handset in the video is made by Asus and instead this could be the beefed up variant of the flagship handset which might be called the Asus ZenFone 6Z.
ZenFone 6z Design
Now that it is clear that the device in video is not the ZenFone 6 and rather could be the ZenFone 6Z. Let’s talk about its design!
The alleged ZenFone 6Z has slider design with a large screen display on the front that has a considerably high screen-to-body ratio. The rear of the smartphone seems to be made out of glass which has a high gloss finish. Its rear panel harbours the Asus branding, fingerprint sensor and the dual camera set up along with an LED flash. The bottom of the device is occupied by a USB C port which is flanked by two narrow slits which may be the cutout for the loudspeaker and the microphone.
Talking about the slider mechanism, the screen when slid downward reveals a dual front camera setup which surprisingly also has two LED flashlights. On the contrary, the mechanism when slid up reveal a secondary speaker and two touch buttons which control the shutter button and brightness setting. All in all, the smartphone looks unique and distinguished than the bunch. However, we will have to wait until the 16th of May that is when the company will lift off the curtain from the ZenFone 6 lineup.
California based, Apple is expected to launch its latest smartphones in the month of September this year. Like yesteryear, the company is expected to launch three handsets which will succeed the iPhone XS, the iPhone XS Max and the iPhone XR. The two upcoming flagship grade smartphones are assumed to carry the iPhone XI and iPhone XI Maxmoniker, while the name for the more affordable 2019 iPhone is unknown as of now. Earlier this month the renders of the less feature rich, 2019 iPhone XR were shared on Twitter which revealed its design from all angles. A piece of fresh news concerning the handset has surfaced online.
The source claims that the 2019 iPhone XR will be offered in two new colour options which will replace the Coral and Blue colour option from the current generation. Instead, the upcoming smartphone will be offered in Green and Lavender colours. While the four other colour variants, Yellow, White, Black and Red will remain as is. Even though the blog does not reveal any features of the upcoming device, they can be derived from past reports.
2019 iPhone XR Design And Features
For the larger part, the design of 2019 iPhone XR remains unchanged in comparison to its predecessor. However, the apparent change the future smartphone will have is the presence of dual rear camera setup. The rear camera setup will be arranged in a square ridge that protrudes slightly from the back panel. As per the renders, the front fascia, the positioning of ports on grilles will also be same on the 2019 iPhone XR as the current generation device.
In terms of hardware, the device will be shipped with the updated Bionic chipset which will assumedly be called ‘Apple A13’. Also reports from the past claim, the anticipated handset will have a 12 MP selfie camera which is a significant update over the 7 MP on the 2018 model. Noteworthy, the forthcoming device is also reported to be shipped with an 18 W fast charger which is great news for people who are usually running out of battery.
To conclude, all the rumours and claims will be clarified once the company officially unveils the smartphone. Going by Apple’s previous launch cycles, the 2019 iPhone XR and the flagship grade iPhone XI and iPhone XI Max will be launched in the month of September.
Smartphones have gradually become the necessity of a modern man. Primarily, due to the reason it enables a user to perform certain simple tasks that would have been difficult without the presence of one. Talking about India, the market is densely populated by OEMs from all around the globe. Consequently, the simple process of selecting the right smartphone based on the needs of a given user can be highly overwhelming. This article will be of great help to users who plan to buy a sub 15,000 Re smartphone in the country.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro – Fan Favourite
Hands down, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro is one of the best mid-range smartphones that is currently on offer. The device made its global debut in India in the month of February and it created seismic waves accrediting to its value for money. It features a 6.3-inch FHD + display with a dot notch up top. The said notch houses the selfie camera that has a resolution of 13 MP. Under the hood, it features the Snapdragon 675 SoC which is both power efficient and powerful. The Redmi Note 7 Pro also has a dual camera setup which is comprised of a 48 MP sensor and a 5 MP sensor. It runs on the latest Android 9 Pie (MIUI 10) and is powered by a 4,000 mAh battery which supports 18 W fast charging. However, users need to separately purchase the fast charger. See full specs of the Redmi Note 7 here.
Screen Size- 6.3 inch LCD, 2340 x 1080 px, 409 ppi
Rear Camera- 48 MP (f/1.8) + 5 MP (f/2.4)
Front Camera- 13 MP
Battery- 4,000 mAh, Upto 18 W, Fast Charger Sold Separately
The Realme 3 Pro, as the name suggests, is the elder sibling of the Realme 3 and it was launched in the month of April. It offers a well-balanced package of features like a 6.3 inch display with FHD+ resolution and 20 W Vooc charging. Praiseworthy, the fast charger is shipped in the box with the handset which is disparate to numerous other OEMs. In terms of optics, the smartphone has a dual rear camera setup consisting of 16 MP + 5 MP sensor and a 25 MP front-facing selfie camera. Notably, the company claims the Realme 3 Pro can also capture 64 MP images which are achieved with the help of software processing. The smartphone is kitted with the Snapdragon 710 SoC and is powered by 4,045 mAh lithium battery. As previously mentioned it also supports 20 W fast charging. See full specs of the Realme 3 Pro here.
Screen Size- 6.3 inch LCD, 2340 x 1080 px, 409 ppi
Rear Camera- 16MP (f/1.7) + 5 MP (f/2.4)
Front Camera- 25 MP
Battery- 4,045 mAh, 20 W Vooc Charge, In Box Fast Charger
The Samsung Galaxy M30 has made its way to the list accrediting to its key highlighting features which include the 6.4 inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display and a mammoth 5,000 mAh battery. It also supports 15 W fast charging and thoughtfully Samsung ships the device with a fast charger. Furthermore, unlike any other offering in this list, the Galaxy M30 has a triple rear camera setup which consists of a 13 MP PDAF sensor, a 5 MP ultrawide sensor and a 5 MP depth sensor. It also has a front camera with 16 MP resolution that is housed in the notch above the display. The smartphone features the Exynos 7904 chipset which might not be as capable as the Snapdragon 675 or the Snapdragon 710 in terms of gaming. However, it performs flawlessly while performing day to day tasks like watching videos online and navigating between apps. See full specs of the Samsung Galaxy M30 here.
Screen Size- 6.4 inch Super AMOLED, 2340 x 1080 px, 394 ppi
Battery- 5,000 mAh, Upto 15 W, In Box Fast Charger
Chipset- Exynos 7904
Screen Protection- N/A
SD Card Support- up to 512 GB (dedicated slot)
Price: Rs 14,990 (4 GB + 64 GB)
Nokia 6.1 Plus – Great User Experience
The Nokia 6.1 Plus made its debut in the month of August last year and has been a popular choice amongst consumers. The unique selling point of the Nokia 6.1 Plus is its butter smooth user experience which is as good as a flagship-grade smartphone. Distinctively, it runs on the stock version of Android OS which provides it with the said user experience. Furthermore, it is Android One certified which ensures the device will receive the latest Android updates for at least two years. The smartphone sports a 5.8 inch display that has a pixel density of 432 ppi. Like most modern smartphones, it also has a wide notch above the display which accommodates the earpiece and a 16 MP selfie camera. Talking about rear cameras, it sports two sensors that have a resolution of 16 MP and 5 MP. The Nokia 6.1 Plus packs a 3,060 mAh battery which supports 18 W quick charge 3.0. The device is kitted with the Snapdragon 636 SoC which is definitely not the most powerful but the bloat-free stock Android provides for stutter-free user experience. See full specs of the Nokia 6.1 Plus here.
Screen Size- 5.8 inch LCD, 2280 x 1080 px, 432 ppi
Rear Camera- 16 MP (f/2.0) + 5 MP (f/2.4)
Front Camera- 16 MP
Battery- 3,060 mAh, Upto 18 W, Fast Charger Sold Separately
After a surprising price cut of more than Rs 5,000, the Honor Play has become a lucrative option in the sub 15K price bracket. Predominantly, due to the Kirin 970 which is a flagship-grade SoC, also present on the high-end P20 and P20 Pro from Huawei. Additionally, it sports a 6.3 inch LCD display that has a pixel density of 409 ppi. Similar to several options from this list, the Honor Play has a dual camera setup consisting of 16 MP + 2 MP sensor and a 16 MP selfie camera. It is powered by a 3,750 mAh battery which also support 18 W fast charging. The previously mentioned Kirin 970 chipset is manufactured using 10 nm fabrication process which makes it highly power efficient. The processing prowess of the SoC can mostly be noticed in resource hungry applications which include games, especially PUBG Mobile. See full specs of the Honor Play here.
Price Rs: 13,999 (4 GB + 64 GB)
Screen Size- 6.3 inch LCD, 2340 x 1080 px, 409 ppi
Rear Camera- 16 MP (f/2.2) + 2 MP (f/2.4)
Front Camera- 16 MP
Battery- 3,750 mAh, Upto 18 W, In Box Fast Charger
Google launched its latest smartphones, the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL on the 7th of May at the Google I/O 2019 developer conference. The devices are the watered down variants of the company’s flagship offerings, the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. The newest smartphones boast of similar software and camera experience as their elder siblings albeit with a few compromises in the hardware department. It was also believed earlier that Google, who announced the latest Android Q Beta at the same event; will make it available for the Pixel 3a series as soon as its elder siblings. However, the company has announced that will not be the case; and the smartphones will get the update by the month of June.
Pixel 3a Android Q Beta
The Android Q Beta update can be installed on any Pixel smartphone or one from 21 different OEMs by signing in to the Android Beta Program. It was expected that the Pixel 3a series; soon after its launch will support the said software update, but as mentioned above that is not the case. Notably, the latest devices feature the March security patch; which may be surprising considering Google released the May security update a week ago. The company claims the handset will be directly updated to the June security patch via an Over The Air (OTA) update next month.
Despite being mentioned on the website that the Pixel 3a series will be supported for Android Q Beta in June; some reports of the smartphone owners already installing the update has surfaced. This is seen as an oversight on Google’s part and expected to be fixed shortly. The news of the new devices not supporting the latest software update; nor being on the latest security patch is a big deal as Pixel handsets are known for the software experience and always staying up to date. It may create a decrease of trust amongst buyers of the company’s hardware in the future.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA is a well-known space organisation; and an independent agency of the United States. In a world first, it has announced the Double Asteroid Redirection Test or the DART Mission. It is a defence driven mission aimed at preventing the impact on Earth by a potentially hazardous asteroid in the future. In the DART mission, NASA will send a spacecraft to crash into an asteroid in the year 2022.
NASA DART Mission
The DART Spacecraft
The NASA DART Mission, as mentioned above, aims at sending a spacecraft to crash into an asteroid called Didymos to test the planetary defences of Earth. In the details revealed on the organisation’s official website, it is known the mission will be the first time the kinetic impactor technique is demonstrated. The technique will try to change the motion or path of the asteroid in space. The DART mission has swiftly reached Phase C and is managed under NASA’s Solar System Exploration Program at Marshal Space Flight Center for the organisation’s Planetary Defence Coordination Office.
The DART spacecraft launch is scheduled for late July 2021 aboard the Falcon 9 rocket made by SpaceX. It will launch from the Vandenberg Air Force Base, California and is expected to intercept with the Didymos asteroid in late September of the year 2022. Noteworthy, the asteroid will be within a distance of 11 million kilometres from Earth at the time and poses no harm to the planet in any way. While the mission seems far fetched at first, its real-world application may be very important in the future. If the mission is successful, Earth will have gained the ability to fend off incoming threats from outer space like asteroids or meteorites. This has the potential of minimising or saving the planet from damage in case of any potential collision.
